(Previous Incident Code: I384)

Several sources claimed that civilians died in a Coalition airstrike on a medical complex in western Mosul. While Iraqi Spring and Raedlay spoke of 18 dead and 47 wounded, News of Iraq reported the death of a child in a video.

The Coalition confirmed to have carried out the strike, but did not state any civilian casualties. It stated in a press release issued on February 18th:

“With the approval of the government of Iraq, Coalition forces struck an ISIS command and control headquarters and propaganda facility in Western Mosul on Feb. 17. The five-story Bab Sinjar administration facility was located in the Al Jumhuri medical community complex. ISIS continues to ignore the Law of Armed Conflict and uses protected sites such as hospitals, schools, and mosques to try and shield themselves from Coalition airstrikes.

In this instance, the Coalition was able to determine through intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance efforts that ISIS did not use the building for any medical purposes and that civilians were no longer accessing the site. The intelligence showed that its sole function was as a military command and control facility for ISIS to oversee its operations against the people of Iraq.

Coalition forces comply with the Law of Armed Conflict, work diligently to be precise in our airstrikes, and take all feasible precautions during the planning and execution of air strikes to reduce the risk of harm to civilians. The air strikes conducted against legitimate ISIS military targets are just one of the ways the Coalition continues to work by, with, and through its Iraqi partners to defeat ISIS in Iraq.”

However Iraqi Spring Media Centre and Raedlay (Facebook) later reported “the killing of 18 civilians and wounding 47 others, including women and children, after coalition airstrikes on Medicine # city of Mosul in the right side of the city.” The source for the claim appeared to be so-called Islamic State.

Alrafidain Channel posted a video (GRAPHIC) showing the aftermath of the strike. News of Iraq posted the same video, saying: “watch a child dying from the effects of the bombing of the international Coalition on the Medical City Hospital in the right side of the city of Mosul”.